


End of the Game

by Snowywolf999



Category: DreamWorks Dragons (Cartoon), How to Train Your Dragon (Movies)
Genre: Angst, So much angst, author doesnt have a clue what theyre doing, i should be updating my other book, many spoilers for season 6, never hahahahah, viggo needs a hug, when will i stop writing about viggo
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-02-25
Updated: 2018-02-25
Packaged: 2019-03-23 19:41:38
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,014
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/13794888
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Snowywolf999/pseuds/Snowywolf999
Summary: (Warning!! Many spoilers for Season 6 Episode 8 - Triple Cross. Don't read if you haven't seen it because it will make approximately 0 sense.)Viggo had always had a firm believe that everyone was expendable - no one was irreplaceable. They were simply game pieces made of flesh and blood for him to play with, to manipulate as he chose.And yet, everything could change so quickly in so little time.





	End of the Game

**Author's Note:**

  * For [AwkwardSquiid](https://archiveofourown.org/users/AwkwardSquiid/gifts).



> This is for my buddy friend pal Squiid who was planning to write something for Triple Cross. I hope it's not too angsty ;)

It was interesting how one's life could turn around so quickly. Just mere days ago Viggo had been standing with his  _allies_ (Viggo used that term loosely), showing their incompetent and certainly inferior brains just  _where_ the King of Dragons was. Or where it would be. Krogan and Johann stood on the edge of the line of intellect and idiotic. Viggo had always thought he'd been a crucial part of their operation, and that they considered him as such.

But that all changed when they tried to kill him. By either suffocation, or a slow death of hunger - neither of which was pleasant. Viggo had been shocked and slightly hurt at the betrayal. He had been given false information on the location of a Dragon Eye lens, that much was true - but Johann and Krogan were as much at fault as him. And they repaid him for everything he'd done - every time he'd predicted the Dragon Riders' actions perfectly - by attempting to kill him. Viggo was a fairly modest person, but he  _did_ consider himself as having more brain and intellect than either of his allies. 

But what had been even more shocking than this was his savior. A  _dragon_ , the very creatures he'd been taught to hunt and kill all his life, had saved his life. At first he'd thought he was done for, nothing more than dragon food - it wasn't often Viggo put himself in danger, and he hadn't had many weapons on him to defend himself. They hadn't been expecting a fight, after all. 

But the Monstrous Nightmare did the very opposite of killing him. It saved him from the surely slow and painful death that would've followed had he been stuck in those caves. Viggo had spent all his life killing dragons, thought the rest of his days were set in stone for him - and yet after one simple occurence, he'd come to respect them as equals.

 

Just as Hiccup had been trying to get him to do for so long. The young boy had tried to convince him so many times that dragons were more than animals to be slaughtered and sold for profit - they were intelligent, kind-hearted animals that could bring peace to entire nations just as soon as wreak havoc on villages. 

For the longest time, Viggo had assumed the boy was simply naive, unable to see the real threat dragons posed. Perhaps he simply used the same method Krogan's Flyers did to control their dragons.

And yet he always had his doubts - the Night Fury was so loyal to its master, how could it be forced into doing his bidding? Viggo knew the connection between Hiccup and that Night Fury ran too deep for him to ever begin to understand on a complex level.

 

His life had really  changed. For the better or for the worse, he was unsure. But he was sure of what he  _wanted_ to do. He would get Hiccup out of here with Johann's Dragon Eye and lenses. Then, seeing no worth in Johann, Krogan would attempt to kill him - and only one would remain. 

All Viggo knew was that he wanted to be  _away_ from this war. It had been a year since he met Hiccup, the spark that had ignited the war between Dragon Hunter and Dragon Rider. He just wanted it all to  _end._

 

And so, that was more or less how he came to be here, running next to a Skrill, fleeing Hunters that used to be his men, now trying to kill him. Running beside a dragon that, a year ago, he would've killed and skinned by now.

 

It was ironic, honestly. 

Behind him, he heard the  _twang_ of bowstrings, the whistling of arrows let loose. He turned his head slightly, glancing behind him with his one good eye, the four arrows closing in on him faster than what he could react to. 

The arrows hit him in rapid succession, each amplifying the pain of the last. The pain was agonizing, the force of the arrows causing Viggo to fall forward, a pained yell rising from his throat. The pain almost reignited memories of many months ago, inside the Dragon's Edge volcano...

Viggo shook the memories away feverishly. Out of the corner of his good eye, he saw the Skrill hovering over him protectively, uttering an angry shriek that chilled Viggo's bones even though it wasn't directed at him.

Electricity crackled, and a huge boom shook the earth, quieting the shrieks of the Hunters.

_Hiccup was right,_ Viggo thought, a shaky, painful cough rising from his chest. He could taste the metallic tang of blood rising from his throat, dripping onto the floor below him. For as long as he knew him Hiccup had been trying to convince him that dragons were loyal, amazing creatures, and he'd been right. He hadn't known this dragon for more than a couple of hours. He was almost certain the Strike-class dragon could  _sense_ how many dragons he'd killed in his lifetime, and yet it still stayed to protect him. A watery laugh pushed its way past Viggo's throat, at the simple  _irony_ of it all. 

Farther behind him, he could hear Krogan's yelling, demanding that he be found and killed.

_Not yet._ Viggo pushed himself slowly, painfully to his feet, despite the fact that every breath hurt more than the last, more blood dribbling past his lips. He wiped it away with the back of his hand, a red smear staining the skin. 

He knew where Hiccup was - he was going to retrieve Johann's Dragon Eye and lenses. He knew that they weren't there. He had told Johann they'd be coming - an anonymous Terror mail. It had all been part of his ruse, his plan - but it seemed that Johann wasn't as gullible as he'd hoped.

The Skrill let out a sound that was almost a purr, nudging Viggo's arm with its scaly snout. Not understanding, Viggo looked down at the beast in confusion.

The Skrill roared passionately and reared, standing on its hind legs, without its wings for support. It thrusted its thick neck under Viggo's armpit, supporting him as he struggled to walk. 

Shocked by its intelligence, Viggo whispered a gravelly "Thank you." Together they continued the trek towards the room where the Dragon Eye was kept.

They arrived just in time to hear Hiccup yelling in frustration, "Viggo tipped Johann off! How could I have been so  _stupid?!_ "

Leaning against the wall for support, Viggo coughed a rough, heavy, gravelly laugh, swallowing the blood that was attempting to rise from his throat. "Apparently, Johann wasn't as easy to fool as I thought." He hated how defeated and weak his voice sounded. But he supposed, that was what he was. 

Hiccup whipped around, and Viggo didn't miss the shock that flashed through his green eyes, his Night Fury growling softly beside him. "You double crossed..." And the boy remembered something else. "The antidote. Viggo,  _where_ is the antidote?!"

Viggo made a sound that was a cross between a laugh and a cough. How could the boy know so much about dragons, but so little about other wildlife. "There isn't one!" he  announced. 

Hiccup's eyes widened in shock, and he glanced back at his Night Fury. Viggo continued hurriedly before Hiccup decided to run him through or something.

 

"You really don't know your oleanders, do you? Red oleander is  _harmless_ to dragons."

He looked at the Night Fury (Toothless was its name, was it not?) and spoke in a voice that was barely more than a whisper. "I would never harm such a  _magnificent_ creature." 

The dragon made a confused crooning sound, glancing towards its rider. The look they both shared so closely almost shocked Viggo. They truly had a deep bond, one that not even Viggo could sever.

 

Viggo groaned; talking was painful, even  _breathing_ hurt. But he felt he owed Hiccup an explanation, a reasoning for his sudden change of heart, that he wasn't simply using him to put Johann and Krogan to rest as he had done with Ryker. "When Johann and Krogan left me for dead... a Monstrous Nightmare saved me. I've spent my whole life hunting dragons... killing them... and I've come to respect them as equals." The Skrill padded towards the Night Fury, touching noses with it as the two Strike class dragons crooned. "You taught me that."

A pained groan escaped his throat, as he staggered towards a wooden table, clutching it for dear life. "That's the final irony, I suppose..." He closed his eyes, his breaths rapid and shallow.

He was faintly aware of Hiccup crying out his name, rushing over to him as he noticed the arrows, engraved into his back. "This is it for me.." he whispered. "The end of the game..."

"Viggo..." Hiccup whispered, pulling his arm over his shoulder for support.

He coughed, chest protesting at the sudden movement. 

It seemed that the Hunters had followed the less-than-subtle trail of his blood, for shouts could be heard in the distance; "Over here! Ready arrows!"

 

Viggo sighed, but it was not a sigh of defeat, or of resignation, but one of determination. He grabbed his sword. "Go. I'll hold them off until you're out."

As predicted, Hiccup protested. "No! I'm not gonna leave you!"

"My dear Hiccup, you are more ruthless than you realize," Viggo rasped. "I  _know_ you will defeat Johann and Krogan." He grasped Hiccup's hand, sliding a game piece from his sleeve into Hiccup's hand before releasing it.

The accomplice. 

"Now go!"

This time, he didn't protest. Hiccup ran out of the room, his dragon scampering behind him. And Viggo turned to the Skrill.

"You too, dragon. Get out of here!"

The Skrill roared in refusal, electricity cackling. Viggo was almost honored that such a proud, beautiful creature would risk its life, to give him a chance, even a tiny slither of hope of surviving this, even though he could physically feel his brain pleading for his heart to stop beating.

And he shrugged, painfully. "Suit yourself." He lit his sword, surprised that he was maintaining a dignified gait, no stumbling, despite his pain. And he gave a sly, one-eyed smirk to the waiting Hunters, all with crossbows poised as he rushed them, sword drawn, ignoring the agony it caused him. The Skrill shrieked furiously, letting out a gigantic blast of electricity, that either killed or knocked out all of the Hunters.

The beautiful dragon crooned as it scampered to Viggo's side. The creature could clearly sense his injury, that he didn't have much time left.

"Go, dragon," he rasped, reaching his hand out shakily to cup the Skrill's jaw. "Save yourself."

And again the Skrill screeched in refusal. 

It stood over him, electricity cackling, baring its wings around him, and for a moment he thought the Skrill was going to put him out of his misery. 

And indeed it seemed so, when the Skrill struck lightning  _into_ him, and all went black. And he could feel a hot, wet tongue licking the scarred side of his face. The dragon was nudging him, sniffing him, eventually tugging the arrows out of his back while Viggo held back his pained groans by holding his hand against his mouth. 

And while the dragon worked, the pain lessened. A dull ache, a throb was still there, but he no longer felt like he was on the brink of the death.

"You..." he whispered, blinking groggily and looking up at the Skrill. "You saved me."

The Skrill roared and crooned happily, giving Viggo's scar one final lick before flapping its wings, taking Viggo in its claws and flying, out of the caves. There was a commotion on the other side of the island, explosions and dragon screeches, men yelling. Undoubtedly Hiccup. And Viggo was able to slip away into the night with his new-found friend.

And for the first time in many years Viggo felt a sense of calm, of peace, that he would never get involved in pointless fighting again.  Something he had secretly yearned for many years.

 


End file.
